The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, created in 1973, was the part of the then 24-Pargans Division. Subsequently the area comprising of the present tiger reserve was constituted as Reserve Forest in 1978. The total area of the Sunderbans is 9630 sq. km. out of which 4264 sq. km. bears mangrove forest. The area of the Reserve is 2585 sq. km. covering land area of 1600 sq. km. and water body over 985 sq. km.
Within this area 1330.12 sq. km. is designated as core area, which was subsequently declared as Sundarban National Park in 1984. An area of 124.40 sq. km. within the core area is preserved as primitive zone to act as gene pool. Within the buffer zone, Sajnekhali Wildlife sanctuary was created in 1976 covering an area of 362.335 sq. km. Considering the importance of the biogeographic region of Bengalian River Forests and its unique biodiversity the National Park area of the Reserve was included in the list of World Heritage Sites in 1985. Whole Sundarbans area was declared as Biosphere Reserve in 1989.
Forest Types :Tidal swamp forests,Saline water type mixed forests ,brackish water type mixed forests palm swamp type
Major Flora : There are 64 plant species in Sundarbans and they have the capacity to withstand estuarine conditions and saline inundation on account of tidal effects.
Main Species : Excaecaria sp., Heritiera sp., Ceriops sp., Phoenix sp., Sonneratia sp., Avicennia sp., Rhizophora sp., Xylocarpus sp., Bruguiera sp. etc.
Main Species: Tiger, fishing cat, chital, wildboar, water monitor, estuarine crocodile.
Endanger Species: Tiger, Estuarian Crocodile, River Terrapin (Batagur baska), Olive Ridlay Turtle, Gangetic Dolphin, Ground Turtle, Hawks Bill Turtle, King Crabs (Horse shoe)
Since the Sundarban reserve forest is amalgam of small islands spread over in 2585 Sq km. out of which 1330 sq Km is Core area and rest 1255 sq Km is Buffer area . In 1976 , 362.34 sq Km identified as a Sajnekhali Reserve forest.
Sajnekhali Watch tower :- it's only 2 hrs cruise from Godhkhali Jetty Via Matla River, which is also having a Forest office from where the West Bengal forest department control the movement of all commercial boat and launches apart from there regular routine work.
Tourist places within Sajnekhali Reserve forest are Pakhiralay , Sajnekhali , Sudhanyakhali watch tower, Pirkhali ,Panchamukhi and Dobanki watch tower along with adventures Island cruise inside the narrow creeks by boat.
Tourist places in Buffer area :-Bony Camp , Kalsh crocodile project , Netidhopani & Burir dabri , Jhinga khali and Bagna Forest.
Sunderban spreads over 54 islands and two countries (India's West Bengal and Bangladesh) and is part of the world's largest delta region. The core area is 1330 sq. kms and is a national forest and UNESCO world heritage site.Sundarban is famus for Royal Bengal Tiger. It is the largest Mangrov forest in world.
Local Life: Around 5000 local fisher men are dependent on this salty water of Sundarban. They can catch fish only in buffered area and with the permission of the authority. Similarly honey hunting is allowed in the buffer zone only during the months of April and May.
Administrative boundary of the Sundarban is spread over two districts i.e.
North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas, covering 19 blocks as under: South 24 Parganas - Sagar, Namkhana, Kakdwip, Patharpratima, Kultali, Mathurapur-I,II, Jaynagar-I,II, Canning-I,II, Basanti, Gosaba
North 24 Parganas - Hingalganj, Hasnabad, Haroa, Sandeskhali - I,II, Minakhan
Other Information
- Packaging Details: The extent of mangrove Reserve Forests in Indian Sundarban is around 4260 sq km, out of which 55% is under land vegetation cover and balance 45% is under water body/ inter-tidal zone. Nearly 40% of the Reserve Forest area has been brought under Protected Area (PA) network, as follows:-
Area of Sundarban National Park = 1330 sq km
Area of Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary = 362 sq km
Area of Lothian Wildlife Sanctuary = 38 sq km
Area of Hali day Wildlife Sanctuary = 6 sq km
How to reach there :-
By road :- It???s only 100 Km/ 2 and ?? hrs drive from Science City Kolkata through Basanti high way.
By train :- Sealdah station to Canning by local train 1 and ?? hrs journey and from there to Godhkahli Jetty by road for 45 minutes journey.
